September 12, 2022
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The University of Pennsylvania is No. 7 on the latest U.S. News & World Report best colleges rankings. Villanova University was the only other school from the Philadelphia region to make the top 100, at No. 51.
The University of Pennsylvania moved up slightly in U.S. News & World Report's latest rankings of the best colleges in the country, tying Johns Hopkins University for seventh.
Penn, which ranked No. 8 last year, was ranked 18th for best value, with a tuition of $63,452. The Ivy League university's Wharton School again topped the business programs. Its nursing program also ranked No. 1.
Princeton University topped the rankings for the fifth straight year.
Villanova University was the only other Philadelphia-area school to crack the top 100, falling two spots from last year into a tie for No. 51. Drexel University just missed, at No. 105, but it jumped 28 spots from last year. Temple University fell 18 spots into a tie for No. 121.
Thomas Jefferson University, which tied Rutgers University Camden for No. 127, continued its ascent. Last year, Jefferson was ranked No. 148; two years ago, it was No. 176. La Salle University ranked No. 202.
Swarthmore College ranked No. 4 among the best liberal arts colleges, dropping from No. 3 last year. It also had the fourth best value among liberal arts colleges, with a tuition of $59,328.
Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts was named the best liberal arts college in the country. Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College also ranked among the top 50, at Nos. 18 and 31, respectively.
The rankings, which have been put out since 1983, are designed to help students identify the best institutions for their educational pursuits. The publication provides details on admission requirements, student-faculty ratios, tuition costs, financial aid and campus size.
U.S. News assesses more than 1,500 schools on 17 measures of academic quality, including graduation rates, faculty resources, financial resources and student success. Its analysis is the most prestigious of the various college rankings put out by media outlets, but the publication also has been criticized for overvaluing wealth, reputation and exclusivity.
Last week, Forbes released its annual list of the top colleges. Penn ranked 10th, falling for the second consecutive year.
Here's a look at the best universities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the nation, per U.S. News. For the state lists, the universities' overall rankings are in parentheses.
1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (7)
2. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (22)
T-3. Lehigh University, Bethlehem (51)
T-3. Villanova University, Villanova (51)
5. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (61)
6. Penn State University, University Park (77)
7. Drexel University, Philadelphia (105)
8. Temple University, Philadelphia (121)
9. Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia (127)
10. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh (151)
1. Princeton University, Princeton (1)
2. Rutgers University, New Brunswick (55)
3. Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken (83)
4. New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark (97)
5. Rutgers University, Newark (115)
6. Rutgers University, Camden (127)
7. Seton Hall University, South Orange (137)
8. Montclair State University, Montclair (182)
9. Stockton University, Galloway (182)
10. Rowan University, Glassboro (194)
1. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
T-3. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
T-3. Stanford University, Stanford, California
T-3. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
6. University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
T-7. Johns Hopkins, Baltimore Maryland
T-7. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
T-10. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
T-10. Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
Last week, Princeton announced it will cover attendance costs for students with households that earn less than $100,000 annually. The Ivy League school also plans to provide greater financial aid to other students, too.
Princeton previously covered the full cost of attendance for students whose household incomes were less than $65,000. It charged $8,500 for students whose incomes were between $65,000 and $95,000.
